One day, a little boy named Henry and his friend Lucas, were sitting on the front porch of Henry’s house watching people walk by.

“Why do you look so sad?” asked Lucas. “It’s such a sunny day!”

Henry sighed. “Look at all of those people walking their dogs. If only I had a puppy, life would be great.” he said.

Just then, Henry’s neighbor, Mr. Smith walked up to him.

“Excuse me, Henry,” he said. “My family and I are going on vacation tomorrow. Would you like to take care of our puppy for us while we’re away?”

Henry jumped into the air with excitement.

“Yippee!!” he cried happily. “I would love to take care of your puppy!”

The next day the Smiths knocked on Henry’s door.

“Here’s our Bailey,” said Mr. Smith. “Please take good care of her for us!”

“Thanks Henry!” exclaimed Mrs. Smith and off they went.

“Wow,” said Henry. “I can’t believe I actually have a puppy to take care of!”

He watched as Bailey chewed on the couch.

“You must be hungry, Bailey! I’ll go get you some food.” said Henry. “I know that puppies eat a few times a day and I’ll make sure you always have plenty of food and water!”

Henry quickly learned how hard it really is to take care of a puppy all by himself. At night, Bailey would whine and howl because she missed the Smiths.

“I know you miss them, I miss them too” said Henry, “but they’ll be home really soon.”

Henry missed the Smith’s even more when he had to clean up after Bailey after she went to the bathroom.

Bailey wanted to go on walks all the time. Henry would take her out at least three times a day. When they walked past Lucas, he asked,

”How’s the puppy Henry?!” Henry was too busy to even answer.

Finally, Henry’s neighbors returned.

“Thanks so much Henry!” said Mr. Smith. “I hope Bailey was no trouble.”

“Oh, no, said Henry. “No trouble at all.”

“I guess you must have changed your mind about a puppy, right Henry?” Lucas said later that day.

Henry sighed. “No, Lucas. I still want a puppy more than anything.”

The next morning Henry’s doorbell rang. When Henry opened the door, the first thing he saw was  a basket with a blue ribbon around it. Inside was a thank you note from the Smith family. There was something else too...

“A puppy!!” Henry yelled.

This time, Henry knew just what to do.

“You must be hungry,” said Henry, gently taking his favorite teddy bear out of the puppy’s mouth.